In 1985 Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of England, and Ronald Reagan took his second oath of office. Terrorists were busy hijacking planes, ships, and taking hostages as close as Ottawa.
Back to the Future was at the top of the box office and REO Speed Wagon and Brian Adams were selling lots of records. There was a tornado in May, and the Titanic was found off the coast of Newfoundland. There are pages of information on world events for that year on the Internet. What people will not find is a story of a church planted in Arthur. A few people gathered around a vision that Reverend Loraine Burrows and her husband, Gord, had for a new church called Crossroads.
Margaret Brodhagan and her husband, David, were among that early group and helped build the congregation which incorporated under the name Crossroads Word Faith Centre as it began to rent in Teviotdale across from the truck stop, where they began to hold meetings and also opened a Christian Academy (school) for kids from Kindergarten to grade 8. In the early 1990s, the church moved to Palmerston Public School and continued services in the gym.
Sometime earlier, Maple Leaf Foods had shut down its operations in Harriston and left two vacant buildings, the older factory on Margaret St and another newer building behind it where it made cheese and ice cream and housed some offices. The church, under new leadership in Reverend Andy Koornstra, acquired the newer building and land free of charge around about 1994 after much prayer and persistence, and not on the first attempt.
In July of 1995 the building, after extensive renovations, was dedicated as a place of worship and ironically, Rev. John Finochio was the keynote speaker for that event, having no way of knowing that just five years later he would become the next lead pastor on the first Sunday of the new millennium.
Previous to Crossroads, Rev. Finochio was involved in a travelling ministry throughout Canada and to other countries.
In 1999, he found himself praying with his wife, Jan, for a new mandate and was considering pastoring. Brian Klumpenhouer, now the interim pastor of Crossroads, called to say he was stepping down and ask if he would consider Crossroads.
John, Jan, and their three children, Nathan, Gabriel, and Tiffany moved from Hamilton where they had been involved in a much larger church for 25 years, and became pastors of Crossroads.
On the first Sunday, there were 35 people in attendance. The church had been through a difficult season and there were financial, administrative, and pastoral challenges and only a few young people.
“We began to set a new course and establish new vision”, said Pastor Finochio. “In the first year, much to our surprise and delight, the church doubled and in the second year it tripled.”
They paid off a debt that had a stranglehold on the finances and the church gradually continued to grow. Today on an average Sunday there are 215 people and many of them are new young families.
The youth group – Tribe – led by Nathan Finochio and a team of young adults, regularly see over 100 young people attending services that are specially designed for today’s youth culture and take place each Wednesday night at 7pm.
Crossroads is now planning to add a second Sunday morning service in order to accommodate the steady growth and stream of guests who attend. That will commence on Easter Sunday with the new service times being 9am and 11am every Sunday. Pastor Finochio and Jan just celebrated their 10th anniversary as pastors and are looking forward with great anticipation for the next decade of ministry at Crossroads.
He discovered only in the Spring of 2009 that the first official service of the church was held on March 3 1985. “Strangely enough, March 3 is our wedding anniversary and also that of the Associate Pastors Paul and Janice Maines … what are the chances of that?”
Due to the often inclement weather in March, Crossroads Community Church will be celebrating the 25th anniversary on the weekend of May 28, 29, and 30. That includes a formal gala May 29 at the Harriston community hall. It will have singers, speakers, video presentations, and a spectacular four-course meal. Tickets are $30 and available to anyone who would like to attend. Seating is for 260 people. Anyone wanting to attend should call the church office at 519-338-5581.
Now Crossroads Community Church is preparing to launch into the next decade on a new chapter. With two Sunday services, a growing congregation, a thriving youth group, and a cutting edge and relevant way of being the church. As Pastor Finochio said, “We do not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future and it looks brighter all the time.”
